From all angles: Vote '08

From humor columnists' double-takes to more serious editorial fare, here you'll find a wide-ranging collection of opinions on the 2008 elections season.

Rosa Brooks
Standing up for our constitutional rights is in the best tradition of our founding fathers, not a sign of weakness.
July 3, 2008

By Alberto R. Gonzales
Any candidate who wants to attract this crucial voting bloc must address racial equality.
July 2, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
If the Democrat wins the White House and does his job right, he just might make his predecessor look good.
July 1, 2008

By Kenji Yoshino
A constitutional ban would also likely doom the unions already on the books.
June 30, 2008

By Ezra Klein
Verbal slips by the presidential candidates and their aides can tell us a lot.
June 29, 2008

By Neal Gabler
Why do left-leaning journalists eat their own?
June 29, 2008

Joel Stein
Day-trading on elections.
June 27, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Rice's new philosophy on foreign policy could have come from a Democrat, but Bush probably isn't listening.
June 26, 2008

By Salam Al-Marayati and Steven B. Jacobs
Exploiting the Muslim- Jewish divide is the wrong way to win votes.
June 26, 2008

By Frank Luntz
If you want to know who'll pick the next president, just use the formula 4M + 2M.
June 22, 2008

It's nonsense for them to use the run-up in gas prices as an excuse to advocate offshore drilling.
June 21, 2008

Meghan Daum
I've long believed that the deepest divide in American society is not the lines separating genders, races and classes but, rather, the gulf between people who have normal, easily pronounceable names and those who don't.
June 21, 2008

OPINION
By Eric Alterman and George Zornick
The media portray him as a GOP maverick. He's really a die-hard conservative.
June 20, 2008

Rosa Brooks
McCain used to champion a common-sense, values-based approach to terrorism. Now he's criticizing Obama for doing the same thing.
June 19, 2008

By Jeremy Scahill
No matter who wins the White House, the security firm is shooting for lucrative work.
June 16, 2008

By James Kirchick
The administration simply got bad intelligence. Critics are wrong to assert deception.
June 16, 2008

As a presidential candidate, he met his day's economic concerns head-on. We could use that now.
June 15, 2008

By Ted Widmer
The next president must free us from Bush's 'freedom agenda,' but that's not an excuse to disengage from the world.
June 15, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Which candidate could best tackle high gas prices? Probably not the one who sang 'Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran.'
June 12, 2008

By David A. Nichols
As Eisenhower did with Earl Warren, Obama could neutralize his Democratic rival by promising her a Supreme Court nomination.
June 12, 2008

By Rob Long
Where's that vice presidential application form?
June 10, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
The sordid history conjured by the vice president's joke about inbreeding between poor white people.
June 9, 2008

Not quite. But here are their surprising policy overlaps.
June 8, 2008

By Michael Crowley
She campaigned as the ultimate Washington insider just when Democrats were clamoring for an outsider.
June 8, 2008

By Anthony York
Moving up the presidential vote to February made last week's election an also-ran and lost the state pivotal clout.
June 8, 2008

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Presidential politics are sure to shake up the Bernard Parks/Mark Ridley-Thomas rematch.
June 8, 2008

The Democratic race showed how far the country has come, and how far it has to go.
June 7, 2008

Ballot initiatives have failed to protect us from eminent domain abuse. The Legislature needs to act.
June 7, 2008

Meghan Daum
In the end, she'll probably be a more significant historical figure than many presidents.
June 7, 2008

By Neal Broverman
A simple majority this November could write discrimination into California's Constitution; it shouldn't be that easy.
June 6, 2008

What the candidates should focus on in five more months of campaigning.
June 5, 2008

By John R. Bolton
His views on world affairs ignore history and imperil the U.S. and our allies.
June 5, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Clinton's failed campaign resembled Bush's strategy on the Iraq war.
June 5, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
There is one candidate who's been consistently right about the war, and it isn't the Democrat.
June 3, 2008

Recommendations for candidates and initiatives in today's election.
June 3, 2008

ENDORSEMENTS 2008
Recommendations for legislative, judicial and county offices.
June 2, 2008

By Robert Scheer
America's massive military budget is irrational, costly and dangerous. Why isn't it a campaign issue?
June 1, 2008

By Ezra Klein
Many years separate the two candidates, but it's not a gap you can measure with an EKG.
June 1, 2008

The candidates and the propositions we've endorsed in Tuesday's election.
June 1, 2008

Meghan Daum
If there's anything that sends me into a vortex of nihilism and despair faster than getting a Shania Twain song stuck in my head, it's starting to think about "Within the Context of No-Context." The seminal essay, by George W.S. Trow, is a doomsday prophecy about the corrosive effects of electronic media. It's also turned out to be a massive understatement.
May 31, 2008

McClellan's book bashes Bush, but it's McCain who has some explaining to do.
May 30, 2008

By Bill Stall
A TAXING DILEMMA: 30 years later, it's time for a face-lift.
May 29, 2008

Rosa Brooks
It's wrong to assume that it's a woman's duty to support Hillary Clinton.
May 29, 2008

ENDORSEMENTS 2008: The list of legislative candidates is long. These stood out from the crowd.
May 29, 2008

Tim Rutten
With an absurd attack on a Democratic rising star who's Catholic, the right is once again seizing on the issue.
May 28, 2008

The Times endorses in the race for the county's 2nd Supervisorial District.
May 27, 2008

DUST-UP
Republican Mike Spence says only Proposition 98 would provide real protection against eminent-domain abuse. Democrat Eric Bauman replies that Proposition 98 is more about ending rent control and serving wealthy landowners than protecting homes.
May 27, 2008

BLOWBACK
By Raoul Lowery Contreras
President Bush was right to call it appeasement.
May 27, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
Candidates who send their wives out on the campaign trail shouldn't lash out when their spouses face criticism.
May 27, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
As we cloister ourselves in like-minded enclaves, we're less likely to reach national consensus.
May 26, 2008

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
The contest between Mark Ridley-Thomas and Bernard Parks and is steeped in L.A.'s black political history.
May 25, 2008

By John Sides
Despite early bickering, Democrats and Republicans will rally around their candidates on election day.
May 25, 2008

Presidential aspirants are learning the hard way that given some pastors' friendships, they don't need enemies.
May 24, 2008

By Gabriel Schoenfeld
So-called experts are frequently certain about what they know about nuclear material -- and they're frequently wrong.
May 24, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Despite the fact that he's been consistently wrong on Iraq, Americans trust his ability to handle the war more than Obama.
May 22, 2008

By Jonathan Chait
Critics should understand that not supporting Clinton isn't an attack on feminism.
May 21, 2008

The choice for 2nd Supervisorial District could affect voters more than the choice for the White House.
May 19, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
Hillary Clinton's outreach to working-class voters signals the group's declining economic security.
May 19, 2008

By Ilya Somin
The purported anti-condemnation measure would actually block meaningful eminent-domain reform.
May 19, 2008

By Joe Mathews
Businesses take to the ballot box to wage war on competitors. Thousand Oaks is only the latest battleground.
May 18, 2008

By Ezra Klein
The presidential candidates need to be freed from the gaffe-hunting, sound-bite-obsessed media.
May 18, 2008

After weeks of being forced to consider whether Barack Obama's relationship with his ex-pastor might hurt him politically, we've lately moved to the issue of whether their connection is sufficiently poisonous that it might damage not just Obama but anyone who supports him. The North Carolina Republican Party was the agent of this particular shift, with a mischievous ad that tried to damage Obama's supporters along with the candidate himself.
May 17, 2008

McCain can embrace or push away from Bush -- but in any case, he's got an anchor, not a life preserver.
May 17, 2008

By J. Peter Scoblic
Bush, McCain and other conservatives are on the wrong side of history when they dismiss Obama's foreign policy.
May 17, 2008

Meghan Daum
When Hillary Clinton speaks of 'hardworking white Americans,' she isn't targeting the traditionally privileged kind.
May 17, 2008

By Calvin Trillin
Some talk down Obama's rhetorical style, but it may give him the last word.
May 16, 2008

By Crispin Sartwell
The idea that a vote turns on one group or another is a deception of demographics.
May 14, 2008

By Douglas E. Schoen
Recent controversies have only strengthened his campaign.
May 15, 2008

Patt Morrison
The sneaky anti-rent control measure is an example of everything that's wrong with the ballot initiative process.
May 15, 2008

The Times endorses state ballot measures.
May 12, 2008

Outside looking in
TOON-OP
Foreign cartoonists on the U.S. presidential race.
May 11, 2008

Tim Rutten
Can you get more JFK or RFK than BHO?
May 10, 2008

Meghan Daum
Hillary Clinton could use a sprinkling of Barbara Walters-style humility.
May 10, 2008

Clinton has campaigned admirably, but simple math and political realities dictate she can't win.
May 8, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Sure, Clinton is free to press on. Whether that would be responsible of her is another matter.
May 8, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
Be it a radical minister or a gas-tax gimmick, it all offers a peek behind the posing.
May 6, 2008

ENDORSEMENTS 2008: A racial separatist running for judge could win if voters don't pay attention.
May 5, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
Obama's theme of transcending race to "bring together" everyone sounds better in a speech than it plays out in reality.
May 5, 2008

Wright and wrongs
TOON-OP
Cartoonists on the latest controversy over Obama's ex-preacher.
May 4, 2008

Joel Stein
Getting $6 a head -- and a cookie -- to persuade newly sworn citizens to register Republican.
May 2, 2008

By Norman Ornstein
Pity the poor superdelegate waiting for a clear sign on which Democrat to support.
May 1, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Writing him off as twisted does nothing to promote reconciliation.
May 1, 2008

By repudiating his controversial former pastor, Obama did what had to be done.
May 1, 2008

Clinton's and McCain's plans for a summer gas-tax suspension won't solve anything.
April 30, 2008

The Times reluctantly endorses the three incumbents.
April 28, 2008

Forget the gossipy stuff. Here are10 topics we'd like to hear the presidential candidates' views on.
April 28, 2008

By Douglas W. Kmiec
By now, we know who's who. So save us all the time and trouble by moving the election date to Labor Day.
April 27, 2008

Far from pandering, John McCain tells financially hard-pressed voters things they don't want to hear.
April 26, 2008

The Democratic race is beginning to erode party unity and solidify voter resentment.
April 24, 2008

The editorial board picks candidates for Los Angeles Superior Court.
April 21, 2008

We should distinguish between who candidates know and who helps shape their views.
April 18, 2008

Tonight's address should set goals and benchmarks for budgeting and anti-gang programs.
April 14, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Don't let the Obama-Clinton battle fool you: It's the Republicans who are hurting the most this election year.
April 10, 2008

Are they hiding their true policies? If so, they could be buying a lot of trouble.
April 8, 2008

By Melvyn P. Leffler
In public Reagan reviled them, but in private he sought to talk to our foes.
April 6, 2008

Tim Rutten
In all the tangled wreckage George W. Bush will hand off to his successor, there's nothing quite as perilously convoluted as the questions surrounding torture and the fate of the Al Qaeda terrorists currently in U.S. hands.
April 5, 2008

By Kelly Valen
Discovering the autopen as a young McCain staffer.
April 1, 2008

By Andrew Gumbel
Why is Clinton fighting so hard? Because history shows it works.
March 31, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
We create a hero, which only leads to our own disillusionment.
March 31, 2008

By Bruce Kluger, David Slavin and Tim Foley
In 2008, the body politic is dealing with more than its share of issues.
March 29, 2008

The GOP presidential contender's response to the credit crisis comes up short.
March 28, 2008

By Michael Kinsley
Our culture's double standard on appearance puts her at a disadvantage.
March 27, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
Judging by the reaction to Obama's speech, you'd think Americans had never uttered a word about race.
March 25, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
His rhetoric entangled him in race in exactly the wrong way.
March 24, 2008

By Karl Manheim and Jamie Court
Are they constitutional? Clinton and Obama need to ask the question.
March 24, 2008

By Dowell Myers and Manuel Pastor
Reality about immigrants differs from perception. Let's change the narrative.
March 22, 2008

By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
Americans treasure freedom; the party that gets serious about giving us liberty will win the future
March 20, 2008

BLOWBACK
By Michael Meyers
What the candidate should have said about race.
March 20, 2008

His speech proved to be that rarity in American politics -- a serious discussion of race.
March 19, 2008

By Erin Aubry Kaplan
The controversy over Obama's pastor has put black anger in the spotlight.
March 19, 2008

Tim Rutten
Never before has a candidate for national office spoken so frankly about race in America.
March 19, 2008

Jonah Goldberg
The candidate's message of unity is suspect if he doesn't divorce himself from the controversial pastor.
March 18, 2008

By Robert E. Wright
Democrats and Republicans offer no choice when it comes to the economy and bringing government spending under control.
March 18, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
Who needs Ward Connerly when you have Geraldine Ferraro?
March 17, 2008

By John G. Geer and Ken Goldstein
Talking about the bad as well as the good in campaigns helps voters make choices.
March 17, 2008

Rosa Brooks
As first lady, Clinton condemned prostitution. So why did she send Eliot Spitzer and his family her 'best wishes'?
March 13, 2008

Meghan Daum
Even Obama's backers find some comfort in Clinton.
March 8, 2008

Florida and Michigan should get another crack at choosing a nominee -- if they pay their way.
March 7, 2008

Though the nominating process is complicated, we certainly know the candidates by the end of it.
March 6, 2008

Voters will have to decide if the mayor's travels to campaign for Hillary Clinton are hurting or helping the city.
March 4, 2008

By Jonathan Chait
We've seen the rage. She should now go gentle into the political night.
March 4, 2008

Gregory Rodriguez
Obama and his party had better dump their discomfort with overt symbols of patriotism.
March 3, 2008

A year of elections for Angelenos.
March 3, 2008

Obama and McCain might gain some credibility even as they lose cash by accepting taxpayer money.
March 3, 2008

By Abigail Thernstrom and Stephan Thernstrom
White voters' support for Obama suggests a dramatic change in the electorate.
March 2, 2008

Meghan Daum
Looking at the Obamas' upbringing to understand Michelle's controversial remark.
March 1, 2008

Tim Rutten
The church's history of nuanced social views frees members from litmus-test voting.
March 1, 2008

By Erin Aubry Kaplan
He's a successful black man, not a symbol of a post-racial America.
February 29, 2008

Joel Stein
You know how ladies, when they don't get what they want, can go a little crazy? Am I right, fellas? Right now, they're pretty upset about losing their first chance at a female president. This would have empowered little girls, shattered sexist beliefs about female incompetence and forced men around the world to view a woman as an agent of power instead of a sex object -- all of which, it turns out, are important to women even though they buy Star magazine. Ladies are complicated.
February 29, 2008

Rosa Brooks
Another 100 years of U.S. troops in Iraq?
February 28, 2008

Despite the Democratic candidates' positions, NAFTA and similar pacts benefit the U.S. in the long run.
February 28, 2008

By Bill Stall
Past governors boosted rates drastically during recessions; Schwarzenegger should do the same.
February 26, 2008

He was once a spoiler; now he's a shadow of a candidate. But does he deserve to be heard? Yes.
February 26, 2008

If exit polls are right, California's Latinos are finally flexing their political power.
February 24, 2008

By T.A. Frank
When it comes to Clinton and Obama, everyone has their own wordplay.
February 24, 2008

Tim Rutten
This week's New York Times expose on Sen. John McCain's alleged relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist nearly a decade ago was a shabby piece of journalism.
February 23, 2008

Joel Stein
It will be tough getting used to life without Hillary Clinton, a candidate so perfect that few could identify with her.
February 22, 2008

His vote against a ban on 'enhanced' interrogation methods belies his opposition to torture.
February 19, 2008


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